Advent Devotional - December 19, 2014

“Go tell it on the mountain / Over the hills and everywhere / Go tell it on the mountain / Jesus Christ is born”

-Go Tell it on the Mountain

Celebration and proclamation naturally occur at the birth of a long awaited child. Birth announcements are sent through the mail, gifts are presented to the newborn child, and social updates are made of the child’s weekly and monthly progress. Can you imagine the excitement of such an announcement one eve in a little town called Bethlehem? The magnitude of this announcement propelled angels to sing, shepherds to gather, and wise men to bring priceless gifts.

After centuries of waiting, Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ, came into the world. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). What good news! Such news we cannot hold in nor keep from proclaiming. Not only are we propelled to proclaim such news, but we are also commissioned to go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that He has commanded us (Matthew 28:19-20).

Indeed, we must tell of God’s gracious gift to the world: Jesus, who knew no sin, but became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). The birth of one such as this we cannot hide. Would we refrain from sharing such a precious gift with one who does not know this Jesus? Does He mean everything to us, and embody all that we hold dear? At the end of the day, how much we truly treasure the birth Jesus is revealed by how much we speak of the birth of Jesus. If this is true, we must feel compelled and desire to go and tell it on the mountain....and everywhere, that Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer, our hope, our atonement, and our Good Shepherd has been born, lives, and reigns forever!